Is there a way to reduce steering effort?
- Thread starter erhayes
- Start date
Solution
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- 2018 CX-5 Sport
Happy Birthday! You sound like a young guy of about 40 here on the board. What is your secret to longevity?
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I quit drinking alcohol 19 years ago. I quit smoking 10 years ago. I continue to go to the gym, even when I don't want to. Eat right, sleep good and stay active both mentally and physically. Good genes help too. All is not rosey because, I've had both hips and one shoulder replaced. Ed
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- San Diego, CA
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- 2014 Mazda3 S GT auto, 2008 MX5 6-speed
The side wall pressure designation is MAX pressure. If you increase the pressure to that amount, the steering will be much easier but your tires will wear out the center treads MUCH faster. DO NOT DO THIS!
Make sure that the pressure in each tire matches what is listed on the label in your driver's door jam. But yes, it the alignment is off, steering feel may be different.
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- San Diego, CA
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- 2014 Mazda3 S GT auto, 2008 MX5 6-speed
My doctor once told me that he estimates longevity by unmedicated blood pressure. An excellent book by Dr. Steven Gundry is "The Longevity Paradox". One nugget of info from the book:
Walnuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, pecans, pine nuts, and chestnuts all help to keep your brain sharp, well into your senior years.
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2 thoughts -
1- The CX-5 is known, per design, to have a tighter steering feel, especially at higher speeds
2- - it is under warranty so you can have them check it out. But even better, if you tell the service department that it doesn't feel right/or they tell you "it's fine", tell them you'd like to test another CX-5 to see if it feels the same or not.
1- The CX-5 is known, per design, to have a tighter steering feel, especially at higher speeds
2- - it is under warranty so you can have them check it out. But even better, if you tell the service department that it doesn't feel right/or they tell you "it's fine", tell them you'd like to test another CX-5 to see if it feels the same or not.
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Newbie CX-5 owner here...I've been driving my 2021 Sport since May.
I've got 12K on it now.
I noticed the heavier steering effort after @ 10 -12 hours on the road on trips between north Texas and northern New Mexico.
My hand just gets fatigued after driving that long in the CX-5.
I've previously driven Honda, Subaru, and Nissan pick-up on that same drive over the years. Never had my hands get that tired
It's not really noticeable around town...but when switching from my Nissan work truck to the Mazda there is a difference in the amount of grip it requires to move the wheel at highway speeds. Over 10 - 12 hours it adds up.
It may just be the difference in electric steering vs rack and pinion.
IME
I've got 12K on it now.
I noticed the heavier steering effort after @ 10 -12 hours on the road on trips between north Texas and northern New Mexico.
My hand just gets fatigued after driving that long in the CX-5.
I've previously driven Honda, Subaru, and Nissan pick-up on that same drive over the years. Never had my hands get that tired
It's not really noticeable around town...but when switching from my Nissan work truck to the Mazda there is a difference in the amount of grip it requires to move the wheel at highway speeds. Over 10 - 12 hours it adds up.
It may just be the difference in electric steering vs rack and pinion.
IME
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- San Diego, CA
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- 2014 Mazda3 S GT auto, 2008 MX5 6-speed
10-12 hours without stopping? That is a long stretch of road! When I was driving cross-country, I would stop after every 4-5 hours to eat or later at night, to sleep for the night. I can't imagine trying to drive that long on the highway without stopping.
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Yeah we stop for gas, food, and the necessities, but we tend to keep moving.
The last trip was 615 miles in 9.5 hours. But it's not unusual for us to put in a 12 hour day...taking the scenic route.
We like to drive, that's why we bought zoom zoom
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- San Diego, CA
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- 2014 Mazda3 S GT auto, 2008 MX5 6-speed
Perhaps a set of dumbbells and 2-3 times weekly arm exercises will help. As we age it becomes increasingly important to do weight-bearing exercise to maintain/slow the loss of muscle mass and encourage our bones to absorb calcium to maintain density.
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Perhaps the electric steering on the Mazda takes more grip effort to make small adjustments on the road and over a 10 hour period and this effort increases the likelihood of fatigue.
It's funny that the same trip in a Nissan Frontier fails to produce the same fatigue.
SMH
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This sounds similar to a review of the CX30 from last year. The reviewer said that after a couple of hours of long, straight driving his hands got very tired. I noticed this too when delivering a CX30 to a customer 4 hours away. After about 2 1/2 hours I noticed that my wrists/hands were really tired. I started paying closer attention to what was going on and seems like I was having to make lots of deliberate corrections to stay centered in the lane. Maybe it's the lane assist or g-vectoring plus? I haven't noticed this though on any other models
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- Canada
Have you explored some of the suggestions from previous posts in this thread? Like checking tire PSI to ensure the tires are at the recommended PSI, or increasing current pressure by 2-3 PSI?
This is a bit of a stretch, but.. Since you're reporting fatigue only in your hands, is there a difference in the diameter of the gripping area of the steering wheel between the CX-5 and the Frontier? A bigger diameter is harder to grip, and if the CX-5's diameter is different enough, that could explain the difference. This would only really be applicable if you find that you're making the same amount of corrections between both vehicles, but the CX-5 leaves your hands feeling more fatigued. If you're making more corrections, then it could be something else (like the tires, or maybe even alignment).
If you haven't already, I'd try increasing the tire pressure slightly and see if that makes any difference.
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Having done this very thing several times and on several cars, before I suggested it, I can assure you nothing you said is accurate, particularly with current tire designs (with high max psi ratings). I.e., if your car is rated to carry 1100 pounds, it doesn't hurt it to do so.
The door plackard pressure applies only to the OEM tires. While it may be a good starting point for another brand or model, it is but a suggestion because of the differences in tread stiffness, sidewall stiffness and the way the sidewalls are buttressed.
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- SC Coast
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- 2019 CX-5 GT Gray
It's what Mazda calls JINBA ITTAI - THE ONENESS OF HORSE AND RIDER
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roddster67
Member
I bought a 2019 CX5 back in September, but have only driven it about 30 miles since then.
Can't remember the steering feel.
I love my oil burning '03 Protege5 with 257K too much to quit driving it!
Anyway, tried just about everything on my '09 Odyssey to get rid of the heavy steering effort.
Ended up just buying a speed wheel (necking knob) and installed it at the 5 o'clock position.
I can drive for hours on the interstate with my arm on the armrest and one finger on the knob.
Turning, parking and Uturns are a snap.
Can't remember the steering feel.
I love my oil burning '03 Protege5 with 257K too much to quit driving it!
Anyway, tried just about everything on my '09 Odyssey to get rid of the heavy steering effort.
Ended up just buying a speed wheel (necking knob) and installed it at the 5 o'clock position.
I can drive for hours on the interstate with my arm on the armrest and one finger on the knob.
Turning, parking and Uturns are a snap.
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